tempo

Plural: tempi, tempos

Noun

• The rate or speed of a musical piece.
• (music) the speed at which a composition is to be played
• the rate of some repeating event
• A frequency or rate.
• A move which is part of one's own plan or strategy and forces, e.g. by means of a check or attacking a piece, the opponent to make a move which is not bad but of no use (the player gains a tempo, the opponent loses a tempo), or equivalently a player achieves the same result in fewer moves by one approach rather than another.
• The timing advantage of being on lead, thus being first to initiate a strategy to develop tricks for one's side.
• The timing of a particular event – earlier or later than in an alternative situation (as in chess example)
• The number of beats per minute in a piece of music; also, an indicative term denoting approximate rate of speed in written music (examples: allegro, andante)
• The steady pace set by the frontmost riders.
• A small truck or cargo van with three or four wheels, commonly used for commercial transport and deliveries (particularly in Asian and African countries).
• A rapid rate of play by the offense resulting from reducing the amount of time which elapses after one play ends and the next starts.
• A temporary carport.

Examples

• 10 calls per hour isn't a bad start, but we'll need to up the tempo if we want to reach our target of selling insurance policies.
• The fast TEMPO of his opponent’s plays left him little time to strategize.

Synonyms

pace, pacing

Related Words

one step ahead